Dr Vijay Kumar Mehta
In the absence of the celluloid saga of modern age, the folk tales and storytelling were the popular mode of expression in the ancient Indian society. The folktales and storytelling as such continued to impress human mind effectively for a longer time. This Holy Katha is recited during the Puja of Sri Satyanarayana (The Lord of Truth) on the Full-moon day especially in the months of Kartik, Vaisakh, Shravan and Chaitra in the Hindu calendar.This text is derived from the Skanda Purana.
Origin of Sri Satyanarayana Katha
Once, Shounaka and 88,000 other rishis assembled at the venerable forest Naimisharanya. They asked Maharishi Sootha, the narrator of the Puranas, “Oh! Maharishi, please tell us how mankind can attain salvation?”As a holy resolution, Maharishi Sootha narrated the secret of this salvation through the consecrated plan of Lord Vishnu: “Mankind can rid itself of all its sorrows by performing Sri Satyanarayana Puja i.e.to observe Truth in life. This will be perennial source of happiness, peace of mind and salvation in the Kaliyuga.”
Tales of Devotees of Sri Satyanarayana
The Tale of the Poor Brahmin
By citing an example, Maharishi Sootha addressed the assembly of the Rishis the story of a very poor Brahmin of Kashi. He wandered in search of food every day. Thereupon, Lord Vishnu disguised himself as an old man, and appeared before the poor Brahmin and asked: “Friend, why are you wandering aimlessly?”
The Brahmin replied, “Sir, I am a very poor man and beg to seek a way out of this misery?” At this, Lord Vishnu, in the guise of the old man, advised him: “Oh, Brahmin, Lord Satyanarayana grants his devotee’s wishes and removes their sorrows. So you should perform His Puja and seek His blessings.” Lord Vishnu explained to him the details of the Satyanarayana Vrata to the poor Brahmin and disappeared.
With determination, the Brahman went to the village for alms so he could perform Sri Satyanrayana’s puja. With Lord Satyanrayana’s grace, he shed his poverty and lived a contented life. Every month on the full moon day he performed the puja and finally attained Moksha.
The Tale of the Woodcutter
Maharishi Sootha continued: “One day when the Brahmin was observing the Satyanarayana Vrata, a wood-cutter entered his house and noticed him performing the puja. The Brahmin informed the woodcutter, “This is called Sri Satyanarayana Puja. By observing this Puja, I have been bestowed with prosperity.”
With this inspiration, the wood-cutter found the harmonious circumstances to perform and observe fast for Sri Satyanarayana Puja and with His grace (The Lord of Truth), he acquired enormous wealth for comfortable life and attained Moksha.
The Tale of the King Ulkamukh, Merchant and Kalvatti
Further Maharishi Sootha related the mythical story of King Ulkamukha and his beautiful Queen, the true devotees of Sri Satyanarayana. The royal couple always performed Sri Satyanarayana Puja for the blessing of a child and was blessed. Similarly the merchant, Sadhu and his wife, Leelawati also performed Sri Satyanarayana (The Lord of Truth) Puja with complete devotion and were blessed with a daughter, Kalavati.
But one day Sadhu completely forgot about the Satyanarayana puja and angered Lord Satyanarayana. This started a tale of suffering for them. At last, they remembered their mistake, underwent penance and performed the Satyanarayana puja every full moon day with his relatives and friends. With God’s grace, he enjoyed all the comforts in this world and finally attained salvation.
The Tale of King Thungadhwaja
Maharishi Sootha continued: “Let me tell you another story of a king, Thungadhwaja who suffered a lot after refusing the Satyanarayana (The Lord of Truth) prasad.” One day, after hunting, the king was resting under a shady tree. Some cowherds were happily performing Satyanarayana puja nearby. The King refused the prasad offered by cowherds. When he reached his palace, he found that his kingdom, his 100 sons, his wealth and everything vanished.
On realizing his mistakes, he made the sacramental rites before Lord Satyanarayana,and regained everything what he had lost earlier. He lived happily and ultimately reached Vaikuntha.
Maharishi Sootha said, “Oh holy men, I have narrated to you the Satyanaryana Katha which was originally told by Lord Vishnu to Narada Muni. By observing this Vratha, mankind can attain salvation. In this Kaliyuga, observance of the Vratha can lead to fulfillment of one’s wishes.” This ended the narration of Maharishi Sootha after which Shounaka and other rishis returned to their respective places.
Psychological Allegory
Any word we speak or listen has its signature on our cerebellum. This word, good or evil, makes the structure of our universe- happy or sad; as such this frames our attitude. Truth writes its signature on our psyche, forms positive thought, emotions and social behaviour acceptable in the civilized society.
But when we tell lies, we recede back into the dark past; manipulate and adopt wrong path of life. Sometimes our negative thought process reels us into the labyrinth of unending web of autism spectrum disorder. This affects our interaction, communication, learning and behaviour. But when we listen to the Satyanarayan Katha, we move to higher stage of mind, capable of performing good deeds in the society; if at all we go wrong, it gives us the way to penance for the evil deeds and thus purifies our mind and rectifies our Behaviour.
Physiological Allegory
The Satyanarayan Katha saves us from manifold diseases. Truth leads us onto the right path, as falsehood directs human beings to deceit and foul games. When we are in the maze of lies, we develop worry, stress, fear and grief. This web of evil design leads us to physiological disorders. Our physiological system gets disorders- Anger weakens our liver, grief affects our lungs, worry upsets stomach, stress affects heart and brain and fear defects our kidneys. The devotees of Sri Satyanarayan Katha develop faith in God, love for fellow beings and enjoy joy and fellow feeling as they inculcate the path of truth. Truth entertains no evil feelings and hence creates the aura of healthy mind that lives in healthy body.
Moral Allegory
The Satyanarayana, allegorically, stands for the great moral virtue – Truth, and all characters that performed the Satyanarayana Puja stand for all the devotees upholding Truth as their virtue. Whenever the devotees leave the path of Truth, they suffer and repent for leaving the path of Truth. After repentance, the devotees again get blessed when they adopt again the virtue of Truth. Allegorically,on moral grounds, Sri Satyanarayana Katha paves a holy path for all to live happily and peacefully by adopting Truth through penance, reparation and meditation for the Great God, symbol of Truth.
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